Sorrow as charity staff are told: You’re all being made redundant

STAFF at a day-care centre that offers a lifeline to adults with physical disabilities have lost their jobs – just days before Christmas.

All 14 staff holding 11 posts at the Calder Valley Club in Burnley Road, Mytholmroyd, have been handed redundancy notices.

Trustees have reassured clients a service will continue to exist and the charity itself will not close but the exact details of how it will work are still being worked out.

The charity, in its 30th year, say that since 2006 their overheads and running costs should have been met by the council.

But Calderdale Council said it is the charity’s choice to close.

The charity say they have had to dig into their reserves to keep the club open. In the last six months, they say, that has cost £44,000 alone.

While they can pay their staff their redundancy packages, they have to stop operating in their current form.

The problems came to a head when the groups offering respite day care for adults with physical disabilities – Scope, Calder Valley Club and Heath Stroke Club – were told they would need to re-apply for their council contracts.

A decision about the contract was delayed in April until December. The charity say they could have survived the uncertainty, if their reserves had remained intact.

A statement by the trustees said: “Cost-saving suggestions put forward by the council would reduce the quality of service below an acceptable level and not meet our charitable objectives.

“We feel many of our loyal staff and clients have been let down at very short notice, which saddens us greatly.

“We will need time to adjust. It is the intention of the trustees to explore what will be needed to support vulnerable people in the future and how best it can do this.”

The council’s Interim Head of Adults Health and Social Care, Sue Ross, said: “Calder Valley Club does not wish to continue running the service after the end of January.

“What’s most important for the council now is to ensure that the people affected continue to receive the services they need.”